Simon's Rock Schedules Concert Series
GREAT BARRINGTON – The South Berkshire Concert Series this year will include old favorites and new works and performers at Bard College at Simon's Rock.In the first concert on Feb. 9 at 8 p.m., Hiroaki Honshuku will perform on jazz flute and wind controller, and Simon’s Rock faculty member John Myers will join him on guitars.
A graduate of Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory, Honshuku is very active in the Boston area jazz club scene and teaches. He has also directed large and small jazz ensembles, and has taught multiple levels of jazz theory. John Myers, Simon's Rock faculty member in music, is a guitarist, musicologist, interactive media developer, and composer whose work has been included in many recordings. This concert will be the third for the duo.
The Hawthorne String Quartet, a group of Boston Symphony Orchestra musicians, will perform "American Music at Mid-Century," an exploration of music by master composers from the 20th century, as well as of their students who are currently active. This concert will be held on March 15 at 8 p.m. The featured composition will by a flute quintet by Walter Piston, composition teacher of Leonard Bernstein and many others at Harvard. Other represented composers will include Aaron Copland and David Post.
Peter Serkin, one of the most extraordinary classical pianists in the world today, will perform for a fourth time at Simon's Rock on Easter Sunday, March 23, at 2 p.m. He will offer a program that combines the relatively familiar music of Brahms with the rarely heard, challenging, and spiritually exalted music of the late French master, Olivier Messiaen.
Finally, the Walden Chamber Players will make their first appearance at Simon’s Rock on April 12 at 8 p.m. They will perform works that they have commissioned from three Berkshire composers, Sheila Silver, Alice Spatz, and Larry Wallach (Simon's Rock music faculty). All three of these works will be performed for the first time; all are scored for the combination of oboe, violin, viola, cello, and harp. The second half of the program will consist of works by two modern masters, Alfred Schnittke and Elliott Carter, who will celebrate his 100th birthday this year.
Details of the South Berkshire Concert Series, including ticket information, can be found at www.southberkshireconcerts.org, or by calling 413-528-7212.
Faculty concerts
In addition to the South Berkshire Concert Series, individual faculty members will present two concerts this semester. On Saturday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m., Anne Chamberlain will perform in a solo piano concert.
On Sunday, April 20, at 4 p.m., Jack Brown will give a song recital. Chamberlain will perform in the Daniel Arts Center, and Brown will perform in Kellogg Music Center; both concerts are offered free of charge.
A summary of concert information:
• Jan. 26 (Saturday at 8, Daniel Arts Center): Anne Chamberlain, solo piano recital, admission free.
• Feb. 9 (Saturday at 8, Daniel Arts Center): South Berkshire Concert: Hiroaki Honshuku and John Myers.
• March 15 (Saturday at 8, Daniel Arts Center): South Berkshire Concert: Musicworks and Hawthorne String Quartet performing American Music at Midcentury; pre-concert panel discussion at 6:45.
• March 23 (Sunday at 2 p.m., Daniel Arts Center): South Berkshire Concert: Peter Serkin, solo piano recital; music of Brahms and Messiaen; donation at the door.
• April 12 (Saturday at 8, Daniel Arts Center): South Berkshire Concert: Walden Chamber Players; Berkshire Composers Project.
• April 20, (Sunday, 4 p.m., Kellogg Music Center): Faculty Recital: Jack Brown, song recital, admission free.
